


Show Me, Tell Me

by Akiko_Natsuko



Series: BixFreed [3]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Apologies, Breaking down walls, Declarations Of Love, Distance, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fear, Fear of loss, Fluff, Forgiveness, Friendship/Love, Invasion of Privacy, M/M, Nightmares, Romance, Shyness, Spells & Enchantments
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-08
Updated: 2018-09-08
Packaged: 2019-08-20 18:50:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16561319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akiko_Natsuko/pseuds/Akiko_Natsuko
Summary: Freed has always been a private person, especially when it comes to his feeling and for the most part Bickslow has accepted that. But when the Rune mage pulls away he turns to magic for a solution.





	Show Me, Tell Me

   It was a quiet morning in the guild, too early for the usual chaos to have broken out yet and besides Natsu and his team were currently away on a job, and Evergreen and Bickslow were making the most of the peace and quiet. It had been a busy couple of months with nearly constant jobs, but now they were getting some downtime as Laxus had been dragged away by Makarov for ‘family time’ much to the Dragon-slayer’s disgust, although they had caught the happy smile playing on his lips just before he disappeared. Freed was supposed to be with them, but Levy had pounced on him as soon as they entered the guild, babbling something about a new shipment of books for the library and that had been it, the Rune mage had dashed off with her, barely even remembering to say goodbye to them.

   That had been an hour ago, and Evergreen was beginning to get bored, especially as Bickslow was sulking slightly as he had been looking forward to spending the day with the Rune mage. She could see the way his gaze kept darting to the library door, and she knew he was contemplating whether it was worthwhile risking Freed’s ire to go and disturb him. It was pitiful to watch really, and she opened her mouth with the intention of either teasing him or egging him on, either would provide her with some much needed entertainment and sort the two idiots out. However, before she could get a word out the library door had burst open, and Freed had appeared in the doorway, his voice raised in a loud growl that most people rarely got the chance to hear.

“BICKSLOW!”

“What did you do now?” Evergreen demanded as she glanced across at Bickslow, the Seith mage currently trying to wedge himself in the corner of their booth in an attempt to hide, not something that was going to work considering his height. Besides Freed had always seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to tracking down his partner, especially when angry, and privately she had wondered more than once if he had a tracking rune on the idiot.

“I have no ide…” Bickslow began to protest, before trailing off, his attempts to hide stilling as comprehension dawned on his face. “Oh…”

“Oh?”

   He wasn’t given a chance to reply, as the Rune mage had spotted him and stormed open, turquoise eyes blazing as he approached the table and his hand was playing with his sword hilt in a way that had Evergreen shifting slightly so that she wasn’t directly in the line of fire. Arguments between the two were virtually non-existent as Freed hated losing his temper and as a general rule Bickslow was happier catering to his lover’s rules and whims, but sometimes, the Seith mage could have an idiotic streak a mile wide. Although even that generally only resulted in a grumpy Freed, not an angry one, but there was no doubting that the Rune mage was furious this time.

“What. Did. You. Do?” Freed’s voice rose sharply at the end, and for once he seemed utterly unaware of the fact that they were in public, the other mages that were also in the guild early currently starring in their direction with wide eyes and open mouths. For a moment Evergreen contemplated pointing this out, well aware of how private he was, but then she shrugged. It wasn’t the entertainment she had been planning, but it was providing some excitement all the same.

“I…”

“Freed…” Evergreen was about to ask what was going on when she spotted it, and she trailed off, unable to stop herself from gaping at his head. She had long since got used to the odd cowlicks in his hair, although in the past she had spent an entire day once trying to get the blasted things to lie flat, but no matter what she used they would always spring back. However, she had never seen them move before. At first, they were practically vertical, quivering slightly but as Freed’s gaze darted to her and he realised that she had noticed, they drooped off to either side, making him look every inch a dejected puppy especially as the angry scowl had faded away. “What the hell…?”

“They suddenly started doing it in the library,” Freed replied quietly, all anger gone, a hint of colour suffusing his cheeks as he reached up to grab them, trying to hide them from sight.

_They had been completely engrossed in unpacking the shipment, the job taking far longer than it should have as they would both stop whenever they found something interesting and having to show it to the other. It had been a while since they had got anything new for the library, and the box contained several old texts that were going to need translating and they were already plotting how they were going to do it.  Freed getting more and more excited by the moment, although the only outward signs were the slight smile on his lips and the gleam in his eyes, or at least, so he thought. He had just passed a particularly intriguing text on the history of Fiore when he realised that Levy had paused in the middle of taking it and was now staring at him with wide eyes._

_“What?"_

_“Freed…um…” She trailed off uncertainly, and he narrowed his eyes at her, reasonably sure that they were long past the stage of being awkward around one another. It had been difficult the first few times they had worked together as they had very different personalities, but books and their script magic had helped them to move past that._

_“What is it?” He asked._

_“Your hair…” She muttered after a moment, and he blinked completely derailed by the strange subject starter, and it took him a moment to process her next words. “It’s moving…” For a moment he had thought that she must be joking, but her gaze was still locked on his head and slowly he had reached up, running his fingers over his head and jolting when his fingers came into contact with his cowlicks, feeling them shifting beneath his touch._

_“What the…?” He could feel it now, feel his hair moving in a way that it shouldn’t, standing up in response to his shock and for a moment he had just stared at her in shock. He knew from her expression that there was no way she was responsible for this, shivering as he felt the cowlicks shifting from side to side, reflecting his confusion. Horror flooding him as he realised that it was reflecting exactly what he felt, and he swallowed nervously. He was well aware that he rarely showed how he was feeling, but that was the way he liked it, and he suddenly felt rather vulnerable as he laid his hands over them. How had this happened?_

_His shock was making it hard to marshal his thoughts, and it took him a moment to recall how Bickslow had been paying extra attention to his hair the night before, shivering as he remembered the sensation of the other man playing with his hair. It was something that always helped to relax him, and the Seith mage had taken to doing it most nights. But he had spent far longer doing it last night, and now that he thought about it there had been an odd expression on his partner’s face, and something akin to disappointment in his eyes just before they went to sleep. What the hell did he do? Growling he had shot to his feet and stormed to the door, hoping that Bickslow was still in the guild because he wanted this gone as soon as possible as he felt his hair quivering in response to his irritation._

“Make it stop,” Freed ordered, but they could hear the pleading tone underneath it, and they could see the cowlicks twitching against his hold. “Please…” It had just dawned on him that the guild was watching what was happening, and that they knew exactly what was going on and Evergreen blinked as the cowlicks jerked free of the hold he had on them, lying flat across the top of his head to mirror his distress and she shot a dark look at Bickslow. As entertaining as it had been to start with, it was clear this was really bothering Freed.

“I…” Bickslow swallowed, somewhat nervous at being pinned by twin dark stares as he knew just what his teammates were capable of, even if he knew that he did deserve whatever was coming his way. “I didn’t think it had worked…” He admitted, well aware that he had just confirmed his guilt and wincing as Freed’s face shuttered. Not that the non-expression helped because his cowlicks were twitching with barely constrained anger on top of his head. “It’s supposed to wear off in a day, but…”

“But…?” Freed ground out. “It was also meant to work straight away…”

“So you don’t know for sure?” Evergreen demanded incredulously, wondering what on earth had possessed him to think that was a good idea in the first place, but realising now wasn’t the time or place to ask the question. Bickslow shook his head miserably, and she growled at him in exasperation before turning back to the Rune mage, intending to say something reassuring only to find him bolting towards the door, hands clapped against his hair once more. “Freed!” The Rune mage didn’t even falter at her shout, darting out of the doors without a backwards glance, and she whirled back towards Bickslow with a low growl. “Go after him, you idiot!” Thankfully Bickslow had already begun moving the moment he realised that Freed was taking off, and he muttered a vague agreement before taking off after his partner and Evergreen sighed as she settled back in the booth, well aware that she would need to avoid the house for a while at least.

_Some excitement is overrated…_

****

   Bickslow entered their bedroom cautiously, ready for something to be flung in his direction whether it was a spell or a book. There had been no sign of the Rune mage by the time he had got out of the guild hall, but he had known without a doubt that this was where Freed would go to hide, as the other man had frequently said it was his sanctuary. The one place where he could curl up and disappear, and where he wasn’t expected to be the Captain of the Raijinshuu…or Laxus’ bodyguard…or strong…he could curl up, either on his own or preferably in Bickslow’s arms and just be Freed. Part of Bickslow was reluctant to have this conversation here for that reason, as he didn’t want to strip the room of any of those properties, but at the same time, he knew the Rune mage was more likely to be open and willing to respond in a place where he felt safe.

“Go away…” Freed was sprawled on the bed, his face burrowed in the pillows, hands clutching at the covers as he spoke. He sounded serious and angry, but the drooping cowlicks that kept flickering in towards Bickslow told a different story, and so the Seith mage ignored the words, slowly and quietly moving across to the bed and settling down beside Freed, hesitating for a moment before reaching out and laying a hand on Freed’s back.

“Freed…”

“Why?”

“I was worried,” Bickslow admitted with a sigh, feeling Freed twitch at his words and after a moment he was rewarded by the Rune mage shifting so that he could peer at him, although as he caught the suspicious redness surrounding Freed’s eye it felt like he had been kicked in the stomach. _Freed_ … He had known that it was a stupid idea, but he hadn’t known what else to do. Freed had been acting strangely the last couple of weeks, and while Bickslow knew that some of it was down to exhaustion as they had been working nearly constantly during that time, there had clearly been more to it. For the first time since they had become boyfriends, it felt like a wall had appeared between them, and his attempts to ask Freed what was bothering him had fallen on deaf ears or been met with a bland, supposedly reassuring smile.

“Worried?”

“You’ve been acting strangely, and you wouldn’t tell me what was wrong,” there was no hint of accusation in his voice. He had known long before they became romantically involved just how private Freed was, and the lengths he would go to hiding his emotions, and he had accepted that as part of the Rune mage, but it didn’t stop him from worrying. Especially as before all this, Freed had always made an extra effort to be more open around the Seith mage than he was around anyone else. “I know you’re not keen on showing your emotions. I just wanted a brief glimpse of what you were really thinking so I would know how to fix whatever’s wrong.”

“Bickslow…” Freed slowly sat up, feeling Bickslow’s hand falling away and his cowlicks twitched in response to the loss before flattening against the side of his head as guilt washed over him. He knew that he had been acting odd and that Bickslow had noticed, he couldn’t remember the last time he had actually managed to successfully hide anything from his partner, but he hadn’t realised that it was bothering the Seith mage that much. His hair was going wild, reflecting his turbulent thoughts and emotions as he hesitantly reached out to curl his fingers around Bickslow’s hand.

“I’m sorry…” Bickslow began only to be cut off by Freed shaking his head, and reaching in to press a quick kiss to his lips to silence him, the cowlicks twitching in circles to match the blush on his cheeks. Even after all this time, the Rune mage found it hard to be the instigator, and a weak, lopsided grin appeared on Bickslow’s face as he glanced down in surprise. “Freed?”

“I’m sorry,” Freed whispered, his cowlicks drooping again as he lent in to rest his forehead against Bickslow’s chest. “I never meant to worry you…”

“I know that…”

“I…” The cowlicks were flickering now, reflecting his anxiety and Bickslow sighed before reaching up to gently stroke them, feeling the shuddering sigh that met the gesture before Freed’s arms crept around him in a cautious hug. “You remember that job we had near Clover?” Bickslow paused, frowning in thought for a moment before comprehension began to dawn. It had been a lousy job, the dark guild they had been asked to stop had been a lot bigger than expected and worse they had been expecting them, and they had all ended up injured in one way or another.

“Yeah.”

“I-I thought I was going to lose you,” Freed said softly, burrowing closer as he felt his cowlicks twitching again at the remembered fear.

_They had been surrounded at that point, cut off from Evergreen and Laxus to the point where they couldn’t even see their teammates, although the static in the air informed them that Laxus at least was still going strong. Freed on the other hand was already running low, as he was currently powering a rune cage around the entire guild to stop any of them from escaping. A task being made harder by the attacks being launched against both him and the barrier and despite his best efforts, he had found himself faltering. Eventually, sinking down to one knee as he took a blow to the shoulder, barely aware of Bickslow shouting his name, demanding that he release the barrier. Trying to tell him that it was okay because they would get them all anyway, but Freed hadn’t been able to accept that. It was his job…_

_His vision and focus had wavered for a moment, and when it cleared, it had to be to find that their opponents had turned their attention solely towards him, realising from the Seith mage’s worried words that he was the cause of the barrier. He had tried to move, but his body hadn’t been willing to listen and instead the only thing he had been able to do was to try and brace himself for the attacks that had been unleashed. However, at the last minute his vision had been obscured by a familiar figure, and for one terrifying moment he had thought that he was about to watch Bickslow take all those attacks. As it was clear that he didn’t have time for a counter-attack and he had cried out, reaching for the Seith mage, already knowing it was too late…_

   In the end, Evergreen and Laxus had arrived just in time to stop that from happening, and to cover for Freed as he tried to stabilise the barrier. But that moment of terror had stuck with him, and for the rest of the day and for a couple of days afterwards, he had found himself unable to even stray from his partner’s side. However, he was a practical person, and he knew that Bickslow was okay, so gradually he had begun to return to normal, believing that would be the end of it. And then just over a week ago, the nightmares had started. Sometimes it was that job, other times it was past jobs or ones invented by his mind, but each and every one of them ended the same way, with Bickslow dying because of him. It never seemed to matter what he did, it was always too little or too late or made things worse, and it had scared him. Not just the thought of losing the Seith mage, but the realisation of just how much Bickslow had come to mean to him.

“I’m right here,” Bickslow’s voice was unusually thick, and it was only when Freed forced himself to look up that he realised that he must’ve been speaking aloud and he worried at his bottom lip. He hadn’t meant to say all that, but he couldn’t take it back. Not when Bickslow was staring down at him wide-eyed, his eyes soft as he continued to pet the unruly cowlicks with one hand, the other one slipping down to cup Freed’s cheek. “That’s exactly how I felt when I realised you couldn’t get up…” He leant in, capturing Freed’s lips in a gentle kiss, smiling into it as he felt the cowlicks springing up and he chuckled softly as he pulled away, before turning more serious. “Is that really why you were so distant?”

“Yes…”

“Idiot.” Freed choked at the name, but couldn’t really protest as he knew that he had been an idiot not to tell Bickslow what was bothering him. He just hadn’t known how to explain the terror that had gripped him at that moment and had haunted his dreams since then. “Next time tell me so that I can remind you of two very important things.”

“What are they?” Freed asked with a frown, realising that he had risen to the bait when he caught the mischievous grin that passed over his partner’s face a moment before Bickslow leant in and pressed a gentle kiss to the end of his nose before moving lower.

“One,” Bickslow whispered against his lips, pressing a gentle kiss to both corners of Freed’s mouth before adding softly. “I love you.” He stole another kiss, bumping their noses together deliberately before pulling back, and lifting his head so that he could press a small kiss to each of the twitching cowlicks, chuckling as they jolted violently in response. “And two…I’m not going anywhere without you,” he added firmly, making sure to meet and hold Freed’s gaze for a moment, before pressing a final kiss against the Rune mage’s forehead.

“Bickslow…” Freed breathed, feeling himself turning even redder at the other’s actions and he dipped his head for a moment, well aware that it wasn’t going to help as he could feel his cowlicks going crazy in response to his pounding heart. His fears were still there, but they felt less terrifying in the face of those words, and he pressed his face against Bickslow as he whispered the words that he knew he never said enough. “I love you…”

“Idiot, I know that,” Bickslow was smiling as he gently reached down and tilted Freed’s face up so that they were looking at one another, unsurprised by the deep crimson staining his partner’s face. It was always the same, Freed never seemed to get used to saying the words, and that made each time he managed to say them aloud all the more special, and his expression softened. “But it’s nice to hear it aloud once in a while.”

“I’m sorry…” _I’m sorry for not telling you what was wrong, for pushing you away, and for not telling you more often, just how much I love you,_ Freed couldn’t put it all into the words, his cowlicks drooping for a second before springing up as he caught the understanding expression on Bickslow face.

“So am I,” Bickslow replied, glancing at the twitching cowlicks. He couldn’t regret the outcome, relieved to know that what had been bothering Freed, but he was sorry for how he had gone about it and how public it had been. _Speaking of which…_ He winced as his thoughts turned to their other teammate, well aware that she would be waiting to see how much she needed to main him for upsetting their Captain, and he was only half joking when he added softly. “We should probably go and tell Ever she doesn’t need to throttle me…”

“Can…” Freed hesitated for a moment, well aware that they really would need to that, well aware of how vicious she could be to anyone that upset them, even them if they were the guilty party. However, for once he wanted to be selfish, and he pressed closer to Bickslow. “Can we stay here a little longer?”

“Yeah,” Bickslow murmured, never able to deny Freed anything, especially when he so rarely asked for something like that. Gently he guided them both so that they were lying more comfortable, the Rune mage apparently happy to let him take the lead as he curled against the Seith mage with a contented hum, cowlicks flicking on top of his head and Bickslow smiled as he rested his head against Freed’s. “As long as you like.”

****

Omake:

  In the end, apart from sneaking out to the kitchen to grab something to eat and drink, they had spent the entire day curled up in bed together. Occasionally napping or chatting about silly things, but the rest of the time they had spent cuddling, Bickslow taking advantage of the chance to play with Freed’s hair and the dancing cowlicks to his heart’s content as the Rune mage had melted into a boneless heap against him, humming contentedly at his ministrations.

   In a way, they had both been a little disappointed when they woke the next morning to find the spell had worn off, Freed’s cowlicks back to normal, although a little messier than usual from all the petting they had received the day before. Bickslow would have been content with that though because the wall between them had disappeared entirely, and he had been stunned when Freed had quietly and with a blush dusting his cheeks, asked for the spell. Explaining that he would try and make it shorter-lived so that they could use it again, turning crimson as he admitted that he liked Bickslow being able to know exactly what he couldn’t put into words, and the Seith mage had delayed their arrival at breakfast, unable to resist pulling Freed into a hug and kissing him senseless.

   They had both been flustered when they arrive in the kitchen half an hour later, Bickslow’s arm wrapped tightly around Freed, only to find Evergreen waiting for them with a smirk playing on her lips as she studied them for a long moment. It was impossible to miss the renewed closeness between them, or the happy smile playing on Freed’s lips or the evidence of what they had just been up for, and after a moment she sighed before demanding with fond exasperation.

“Why is it that he pulls a stunt like that, and yet you end up more Lovey Dovey than ever?”


End file.
